Sports
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka sails through third round at Miami Open
Mar 22, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Aryna Sabalenka hits a forehand against Caty McNally (USA) (not pictured) on day six of the 2026 Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka won 10 of the last 12 games in dispatching Caty McNally 6-4, 6-2 in one hour, 25 minutes in a third-round match on Sunday night at the Miami Open.
Sabalenka of Belarus, coming off the BNP Paribas Open championship at Indian Wells, Calif., is defending her title in Miami Gardens, Fla.
It wasn’t all that easy, as Sabalenka blew a 4-2 lead in the first set for 4-4, then needed six deuces to hold serve — despite a 15-30 start — before breaking McNally’s serve for the third time to win the set.
Sabalenka converted 5 of 8 break points in the match, to 2 of 3 for McNally, and won 67.4% of her first serve points (29 of 43), to 55.3% (21 of 38) for her American opponent.
Next up for Sabalenka is No. 23 Qinwen Zheng of China, who had a much tougher match in beating 15th-seeded Madison Keys of the United States 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours, 17 minutes.
“The ball was just like a bomb for me at the beginning,” Zheng said of the early going against Keys. “I couldn’t react. I haven’t had this speed of match in a long time.”
Zheng would catch up, finishing with 31 winners — 23 in the last two sets — to Keys’ 15. Zheng had more aces (11-4) and fewer double faults (3-5). She converted four of 13 break-point opportunities, but Keys succeeded on just 2 of 12.
Sabalenka won the first six meetings against Zheng, who won two of the next three of nine total.
“I’ll focus on myself. I’ll focus on my game. I’ll try to stay focused from the first point ‘til the last,” Sabalenka said of playing Zheng. “She’s an incredible player. We played a lot of matches. I have a good record against her, but it doesn’t say anything. It’s always tough battles. I’m always looking forward to play her. It’s always a fight and I really enjoy it.”
Third-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan defeated No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-3, 6-4. No. 5 Jessica Pegula downed No. 26 Leah Fernandez of Canada 6-2, 6-2.
Other high seeds didn’t make it out of the round. No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy was knocked out by No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 5-7, 6-2, 7-5. No. 9 Elina Svitolina of Ukaine fell to American Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 7-5. No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia was eliminated by No. 34 Jaqueline Cristian of Romania 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5).
Australia’s Talia Gibson, coming off of a quarterfinal run at Indian Wells where she earned her first three top-20 wins, notched her fifth on Sunday. Gibson, who beat Naomi Osaka in straight sets on Saturday, downed 18th-seeded Iva Jovic of the United States 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday.
Gibson did not face a break point while converting four of eight.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hyo Joo Kim never loses grip on lead, captures Fortinet Founders Cup
Apr 25, 2025; The Woodlands, Texas, USA; Hyo Joo Kim Korea hits an shot onto the green at the 18th hole during the second round of The Chevron Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim went wire to wire, holding off Nelly Korda to win the Fortinet Founders Cup by one stroke Sunday in Menlo Park, Calif.
Kim became an eight-time winner on the LPGA Tour, including this event in 2015 in Phoenix, with a 1-over-par 73 for a total of 16-under 272 at Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club, which hosted the event for the first time.
The 30-year-old had led by two shots after the opening round, four through Friday’s play and five after three rounds.
Ranked No. 8 in the world, Kim saw her five-stroke lead evaporate after 10 holes. She bogeyed Nos. 2, 8, 12, 16 and 18 to make for a dramatic finish. She countered with birdies at Nos. 6, 7, 11 and 14.
“I don’t think I was necessarily shaken up or my emotions were all over the place,” Kim said through a translator. “I was just trying to keep my focus on my shots and what I was doing. So I think was just trying to keep and lock in on that.”
Kim hit nine of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens in regulation, taking 30 putts.
“I think just in the back nine my two par saves were probably the things I’m proudest about today,” Kim said. “Just because my shots weren’t playing as well.”
Korda, ranked No. 2 in the world, entered the day in second place and stayed there after firing a 3-under 69 for 15 under for the tournament.
She bookended birdies at Nos. 2 and 17 with birdies at Nos. 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 to tie for the lead at 17 under, then carded a bogey at No. 12.
Korda missed a 3-footer on No. 17 for a three-putt bogey to drop to 15 under, which provided Kim with a two-stroke cushion as they went to the 18th hole.
“The front nine was great,” Korda said. “Kind of battled a little bit more on the back nine. Wasn’t really kind of producing as much as I was on the front nine. Obviously, something like 17 stings, so it is what it is. It’s golf. It’s a quick turnaround. There is next week. So, just going to take all the positives.”
Korda hit 12 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in regulation while totaling 32 putts.
South Korea’s Jin Hee Im (69 on Sunday) and Sei Young Kim (67) tied for third at 11-under.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand shot 73 and tied for 14th at 8-under.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kenyon Giles pours in 28 points as Wichita State rolls over Oklahoma State
Feb 26, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Wichita State Shockers head coach Paul Mills reacts against the Memphis Tigers during the second half at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images Kenyon Giles put on a show as he connected on eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points, leading Wichita State to a dominant 96-70 victory over Oklahoma State in the second round of the NIT Sunday night in Stillwater, Okla.
Giles shot 8-of-16 from long range while four others finished in double figures. Karon Boyd and Michael Gray Jr. scored 13 points apiece, Dillon Battie added 12 points and 10 rebounds and Dre Kindell chipped in 11 for the Shockers (24-11), who are in the NIT for the 15th time in program history.
Christian Coleman’s double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds wasn’t enough for the Cowboys (20-15), who also got 19 points out of Kanye Clary.
Any thoughts of the Cowboys getting a boost from the return of three of their top players from a suspension in the opening round, including leading scorer Anthony Roy, didn’t pan out.
Roy, the team’s leading scorer, was limited to seven points, well below his average (17.2), Vyctorius Miller tallied eight points and Isaiah Coleman managed two.
Oklahoma State didn’t score in the 3:05 of the first half but took its first lead of the day at 47-46 on a layup by Coleman with 17:07 remaining.
Tied at 48-48, Giles hit a 3-pointer to ignite a 6-0 run as the Shockers pulled in front 54-48 with 14:40 left.
Battie’s layup at the 11:25 mark stretched the Wichita State lead to double digits at 61-51. Giles all but sealed the deal for the Shockers when he connected from 3-point range for the fifth time, extending the lead to 68-53 with 9:21 left.
The two teams were meeting in the NIT for the second year in a row after the Cowboys won last year’s matchup 89-79.
Giles did his best to make sure history didn’t repeat itself, drilling back-to-back 3-pointers in the span of 29 seconds to propel the Shockers to a 10-2 lead with 15:21 to go, the first of the two going down on a shot from the OSU logo.
The Cowboys did themselves no favors in trying to erase the deficit, missing eight consecutive shots from the floor before Benjamin Ahmed ended the drought to cut the Wichita State lead to 15-6 with 13:31 to play.
The Shockers held a lead of 24-10 midway through the first half but the Cowboys were only down 32-26 with 5:13 to go after Roy drilled a 3-pointer.
A 12-2 run for the Cowboys got them within 34-31 with 3:42 left but the Shockers weathered the storm and led 44-37 at the half thanks to a 3-pointer from Boyd with 14 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Saint Joseph's makes 19-point comeback to overcome Cal
Dec 11, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Saint Joseph’s Hawks guard Jaiden Glover-Toscano (11) shoots against the Syracuse Orange during the first half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images Jaiden Glover-Toscano had 24 points and a game-ending blocked shot to cap a 19-point comeback as visiting Saint Joseph’s nipped Cal 76-75 on Sunday night in the second round of the NIT in Berkeley, Calif.
The Hawks (24-11) advance to play New Mexico in the NIT quarterfinals.
Cal (22-12) was in complete control of the game, ahead 61-42 with 13:34 left after a 3-pointer by Chris Bell, but the Hawks chipped away.
A rim-rattling dunk by Dasear Haskins cut the lead to nine with 6:54 to play for Saint Joseph’s. A basket by Glover-Toscano made it a four-point game with 4:11 to play.
Justin Pippen made a free throw for Cal to give them a 75-73 lead with 2:10 left, but the Bears would not score again. Hawks guard Derek Simpson shook loose outside the arc and drained a three with 1:50 to go to give St. Joseph the lead.
After both teams had empty possessions, Cal called a timeout with 44.2 seconds left with the ball and worked it inside to Lee Dort, but Dort had the ball stripped and the Hawks went back the other way. Cal elected not to use a timeout as Simpson dribbled the ball near half court. His runner in the lane missed with six seconds to go.
Dort sent an outlet pass over to Dai Dai Ames, who drove into the front court and attacked the basket, but Glover-Toscano was able to get a few fingers on his shot to knock it away just before the final buzzer.
Bell had 23 points to lead Cal, including five threes. Haskins had 17 for Saint Joseph’s. The Hawks outscored Cal 42-24 in the paint.
Saint Joseph, playing the second time on the road in the NIT, jumped out to a 16-8 lead seven minutes into the game, but Cal took over midway through the first half. The Bears led at halftime 41-33 and opened the second half on an 11-2 run to build the lead to double digits.
–Field Level Media
Hyo Joo Kim never loses grip on lead, captures Fortinet Founders Cup
Kenyon Giles pours in 28 points as Wichita State rolls over Oklahoma State
